Sunday's post is a day late, thanks to a severe case of the homeworks. Actually, Tuesday's might not come at all due to the same extensive case, which will be culminating in four simultaneous tests. :( I'll be twittering my butt off now, though, since I have *gasp* my computer back!!
Today, I have a hefty dose of Vitamin Soft-Sciences. And I'm going to spew it all over your computer screens.
Enough of that.
First up today is a study utilizing electrodes to treat otherwise unresponsive OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder. The study, published in the October Archives of General Psychiatry, implanted electrodes in the nucleus accumbens portion of the brain (which plays a role in rewards) in 16 patients whose OCD was unaffected by other treatments. Then the study took place in three parts. First, active stimulation (whatever that implies) was given over an eight month period to all participants, during which they were assessed for symptoms every two weeks using a 40 point scale. Then comes the double-blind portion, in which for one month the patients were randomly assigned treatment or having the electrodes turned off for two weeks at a time. Much assessing took place. Finally, a year of stimulation again with 3-month assessments. So...did it work? Kinda! Nine patients responded appreciably and decreases in symptoms were pretty evident (check out the link at bottom for details). Side effects were forgetfulness and...uh...what's the term for...er...oh, right, word-finding problems.
While we have brains on the brain, there are also new and exciting findings concerning the breath-holding symptoms of Rett Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 girls. Breathing problems is just one of the symptoms, and can be lethal (not to mention terrifying). Researchers found that in a mouse model with Rett Syndrome, the portion of the brain that controls breathing was actually low on a transmitter, aminobutyric acid. So, by supplementing the aminobutyric acid and also stimulating a certain type of receptor, they successfully stopped the mouse's breathing problems, all using drugs already approved by the FDA. Hopefully this approach will be made available quickly to help those who need it!
Last for today, because I've got quite a bit of studying to get to, new information has been found regarding terminal cancers and how to stop them in their latest stages. Before, there didn't seem to be much you could do once the cancer had "spread." Now, however, research is starting to show how those cancers spread and ways to target that method - specifically, something called platelet endothelial cell adhesion 1...or PECAM-1. By creating an antibody, the anti-PECAM-1 antibody, a new approach becomes available for combatting several types of terminal cancers. Details are in the link at the bottom of this post, but beware, it's a little full of itself. :p
See you later!
-Miss Mouse
References and Links:
Shockingly OCD
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/569171/
Okay, you can breathe now
http://www.physorg.com/news205425548.html
It's not over til it's over (Cancer, I mean)
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/568884/
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